Finding your Wacom ArtRage Serial Number

How to find your ArtRage serial number with a Wacom tablet

The Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Medium Tablet comes with a free copy of ArtRage Studio

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about this recently, so we just wanted to clarify the process of finding your serial number and registering ArtRage if it came with a Wacom tablet.

Many Wacom tablets come with a free copy of ArtRage 2 or ArtRage 3 (Studio or Studio Pro). These require a serial number (“registration key”) to activate the program after installing it. You get this serial number directly from Wacom and we have no access to, or control over, the process. They use the same system for distributing most of their included software, not just ArtRage.

The steps may vary by country or by tablet, so we can only tell you what you should look for. If you can’t find any of the options below, you need to contact Wacom support.

How Do You Get ArtRage Working?

If you have a CD for ArtRage 2, there should be a 20 digit serial number printed on the sleeve, in which case you’re all set and can skip to the section about registering with us in the member area.

If you’re supposed to download ArtRage, then you need to register your tablet and the SBD key you get from Wacom. In which case, follow the steps below.

Note: If you are running Mac OS 10.9 or later, you need the latest version of ArtRage 3 (3.5.12). The Wacom download may not be the latest version, so you will need to download 3.5.12 from our member area.

Which Number is the Serial Number? (Find the SBD key)

So, you have your shiny new tablet. You may have a CD with ArtRage on, or you may have to download it. What you need to look for is either the serial number or a code referred to as an SBD key. You’re probably going to have 2-4 different codes of varying lengths and appearances. These will include a short code that is specific to the tablet itself, a longer software code (SBD key) to register with Wacom, and any other codes for other software or products.

Your ArtRage serial number will be a mixture of capital letters and numbers, 20 or 25 digits long.

ArtRage 2 will be 20 digits in this format: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ArtRage 3 (Studio/Studio Pro) will be 25 digits broken up into groups of 5: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

If you don’t have an ArtRage serial number, you will have an SBD (Software Bundle Download) key. This can usually be found on the sticker on the envelope of your driver DVD. It may only be referred to as an ‘SBD key’ and it is usually 23 digits long, in a very similar format to our ArtRage 3 serial numbers:

SBD key format: XXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX

This makes it very easy to mix up with the ArtRage serial number. It won’t work as the serial number for ArtRage, but if you register it with Wacom, it will ‘unlock’ your software downloads. You can register your Wacom tablet here.

What Happens Next? (Registering With Wacom)

Once you have registered, you should automatically be sent an email containing the ArtRage serial number. You’re probably going to have 2-4 different codes of varying lengths and appearances. These will include a short code that is specific to the tablet itself, a longer software code (SBD key) to register with Wacom, and any other codes for other software or products.

If you can’t find this email:

Check your spam folder

Check your Wacom account. The serial number should be visible in the downloads section

If neither of the above help, contact Wacom support. We can’t help you, as only Wacom has access to your Wacom details.

Optional Member Area Registration: Better Download Options, More Support & Upgrade Discounts

Once you’ve successfully registered with Wacom, you can download ArtRage, enter the serial number and start painting. However, you also have the option of registering your serial number in our Member Area.

We highly recommend registering directly with us because it will allow us to actually support you easily in the future (rather than having to send you to Wacom because we don’t know which edition you have or what your serial number should be).

It will also give you a few other benefits:

Unlimited downloads whenever you need to reinstall ArtRage

Access to the most recent version (Wacom downloads aren’t always up to date). If you are running Mac OS 10.9 or later, you need the latest version of ArtRage, because older versions will not work properly.

The option to download both Windows and Mac OSX versions whenever your need them (Wacom only allows you to choose one OS).

A safe place to keep your serial number, so that you never lose your copy of ArtRage.

Access to our upgrade discount – you will be able to get a 50% discount if you ever want to upgrade to our latest edition (currently ArtRage 4).

To register:

Click ‘create account’ and follow the instructions if you haven’t done so before

Ambient Design is a New Zealand based software development company specializing in creative tools for artists.

Our work across desktop and mobile platforms focuses on creating natural tools with intuitive interfaces. These let artists from both traditional and digital backgrounds paint without having to learn digital tricks to get realistic results.